


Change of Heart

by infinitygeek



Category: Henry Danger (TV)
Genre: Gen, I just love writing his character, i think this is my third story revolving around Drex, whoops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-12-20 15:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11923569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/infinitygeek/pseuds/infinitygeek
Summary: Henry is completely fed up with the way Ray has treated him, so when Drex asks Kid Danger to switch to his side, it's easy for him to agree. Drex will completely transform Swellview's Kid Danger into a cold-hearted fighter like himself and he won't let anyone get in his way. Ray knows he won't be able to battle both of his former sidekicks alone, and he's running out of ideas.





	1. Chapter 1

Henry felt a wave of defeat wash over him as his back hit the sand of the playground. The combination of shock and Drex’s foot on his chest made him unable to protest. He could feel the shocked expressions of bystanders staring at his failed attempt to take down the most dangerous criminal in Swellview. He looked up to see Drex’s smirk in front of the glaring sunlight. Henry may have been fast, but Drex was faster.

“I could break about three of your ribs right now if I wanted to,” Drex said, a smug expression mocking Henry below him. He put more pressure onto Henry’s chest, causing him to wince. “But I have a better idea.” Henry was confused by this statement, but still intrigued. He didn’t want to listen to whatever Drex had in mind for his demise, but his curiosity got the best of him.

“You’ve got a lot of potential, and it’s a shame to see it go to waste with Ray,” Drex said. Henry furrowed his eyebrows, starting to understand what he was implying. “Join me, there’s no way you can reach your full potential living in Ray’s shadow. If you come with me, you’ll get everything you’ve ever hoped for.”

Henry growled and tensed just about every muscle in his body out of anger, “Over my dead body!” Drex laughed and shook his head.

“That’s what it’ll be then. You join me or you die,” Drex said simply. Henry’s heart dropped and he was pumped full of adrenaline with no way to release it. “Think about it, Ray is an ass. I know that as much as you do. He will make you feel lower than him for as long as you stay with him.”

Henry hated the fact that what he said was true. He and Ray may have had some good times, but overall, Ray was terrible not only to him, but everyone around him too. Maybe joining Drex wouldn’t be the worst idea.

“What’ll it be, kid?” Drex’s voice pulled Henry from his thoughts. Henry was shaking as he nodded his head. Drex snickered and helped Henry up. Henry was still unsure about what he was doing, but it felt right. Being free from Ray’s reign felt unnatural but satisfying. He was finally able to think for himself without fear that Ray would be there to slap those thoughts away.

“Kid Danger,” Drex spoke. “You’re officially a criminal.” Drex smirked and Henry felt his own lips curve into a cynical grin. As they started to walk out of Swellview Park, Henry turned back at the awestruck crowd. The last thing he saw was Jasper’s distraught face as he left his best friend behind.


	2. Chapter 2

“What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?” Ray said pacing worriedly around the room. Everyone was on edge ever since Jasper came back with the news that Henry joined Drex, but Ray was freaking out.

“Asking us that over and over is not going to make us come up with an idea any quicker,” Charlotte said, trying to keep her train of thought.

“I could be your new sidekick!” Schwoz suggested.

“Now’s not the time for jokes Schwoz,” Ray said. Schwoz frowned and slumped down on the couch. Ray turned to face Jasper.

“So Henry just got up and walked away with Drex?” Ray asked. Jasper nodded silently causing Ray to groan in frustration.

“I can’t believe he would do this,” Ray said. “What if he tells Drex where the Man Cave is? They could kill me!”

“No, they’d kill us because you’re indestructible,” Charlotte said. Ray waved his hand in disregard to her statement and continued to pace.

“Well, Drex did threaten Henry if he didn’t join him,” Jasper said quietly.

“Why didn’t you tell he that earlier?!” Ray yelled causing Jasper to jump.

“I’m sorry! The whole thing is kind of a blur!” Jasper explained and crossed his arms tightly.

“Ray, you need to calm down,” Charlotte said.

“How can I calm down when Jasper is wasting my time?!” Ray said. Charlotte furrowed her eyebrows.

“Ugh, what is this going to do to my reputation?” Ray asked.

“That’s it,” Charlotte said, standing up from the couch. “You need to stop being so selfish Ray. Henry is alone with a dangerous criminal and all you’re think about is yourself.”

“Excuse me?” Ray said defensively. Charlotte just growled and continued.

“You’re the reason Henry joined Drex! I really don’t think you get that! He was tired of your selfish nature and we’re getting tired of it too!” Charlotte ended with clenched fists and the Man Cave was filled with deafening silence.

Ray truly didn’t know how to react to this. Jasper did say that Drex told Henry how bad he was, but Ray ignored it. This whole thing _was_ his fault and the guilt hit him all at once. Ray’s eyes filled with tears, but he refused to let them free. Instead he took a shaky breath and spoke softly.

“I’m sorry,” With that, Ray left the room. Once he left, everyone exchanged looks of confusion.

“Don’t feel bad, Charlotte,” Schwoz said. Charlotte scoffed.

“I don’t, he needed to hear the truth,” Charlotte said and sat back down. They all sat in silence for a moment to think about how they would catch Drex.

“I think you guys should be his new sidekicks,” Schwoz said. “I’m sure he thought about doing this, but he probably wants it to be a last resort.” Jasper’s face lit up slightly and Charlotte rolled her eyes.

“I think we’d get demolished,” Charlotte said. Jasper frowned.

“Charlotte, you’re already pretty skilled in combat, with a little training, you might be able to take them on. Then we can just give Jasper a ton of weapons.” Schwoz said. “I think Ray is mostly concerned about fighting both Henry and Drex. You guys could take on Henry while Ray fights Drex.” Charlotte shrugged.

“But I don’t _wanna_ fight Henry,” Jasper whined.

“Well we don’t know if we will go through with this yet,” Schwoz said. Ray then entered the room in a completely different state than when he left.

“Charlotte, Jasper, you guys are going to be my new sidekicks,” Ray said. Jasper groaned and Charlotte gave no reaction.

“Don’t be too excited,” Ray said sarcastically.

“Henry is my friend,” Jasper said. “I can’t fight him.”

“Trust me, Drex will transform Henry into someone you don’t want to be friends with.” Ray warned receiving a defeated sigh from Jasper.

“Meet me in the training room in thirty,” Ray clapped and ran to the back.

“I bet you five bucks it takes five minutes for him to give up on us,” Charlotte said.

“I bet it only takes three,” Jasper responded.

“Deal.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  ~~head~~ canon: every criminal in Swellview is very gay.

Henry had no idea where he was going. He may have lived in Swellview all his life, but Drex had lead him to a dark corner of the town he didn’t recognize. And honestly, he was so overwhelmed with thoughts he didn’t even know how they got there. Before he knew it, they were stopped in front of a large metal door with several complex locks.

“He’s really locked this place up…” Drex mumbled to himself, eying the facility. Henry wanted to ask who he was talking about, but he couldn’t seem to squeeze any words out. He simply watched Drex try to make sense of what was in front of him.

“Lance! It’s Drex, let me in!” Drex yelled, catching Henry off guard and making him jump. Henry searched his memory for a person named Lance, but no one came to mind. He figured he was just another citizen in Swellview that just so happened to know the dangerous criminal. That was until he opened the door. The man squealed and pulled Drex into a tight hug. Drex glanced at Henry and returned the gesture loosely. The last person Henry expected Drex to be friends with was The Time Jerker.

“It’s so good to see you!” He said. “But why’d you bring this piece of shit with you?” Normally Henry would be taken aback by this, but he was too confused by this whole situation to even consider his statement.

“I’ll explain inside,” Drex said. Lance put a hand on Drex’s chest to stop him from walking inside.

“How do I know you’re not working for Captain Man again?” He said. Drex burst into laughter and Lance soon joined him. Henry was completely bewildered by this scene, but followed Drex inside anyways. They all took a seat and Drex explained the whole story of recruiting Captain Man’s loyal sidekick.

“Very impressive,” Lance said. Drex nodded and looked over at Henry who was so tense he looked like he might explode.

“Christ, kid, loosen up a little,” Drex said. Henry swallowed his fear and wriggled in his seat a little to try to ease up. His heart rate felt dangerously high and this was the first time he realized it.

“So why’d you come here out of all places?” Lance raised one of his eyebrows. “I’ll let you know that my time machine is gone.”

“I want you to inspect his equipment to see what we can keep,” Drex said Lance smirked. “Also I want you to give him an edgy haircut.” Henry raised his eyebrows. Henry drew the line at messing with his hair, but he was still too choked up to protest.

“Done and done my friend,” Lance said. He stood up and approached Henry. “Let’s see what you’ve got.” Henry began to empty out his pockets and utility belt onto the couch he was sitting on. Everything from his phone to his tube of gum was soon scattered about. Lance began to sort everything while Drex eyed Henry suspiciously. Drex’s stare was enough to make Henry break into a sweat.

“I think you’re forgetting something,” Drex said walking up to Henry. “Hand me the watch.” Henry stumbled while taking it off, but was eventually able to get it to Drex. Everything was happening so fast that he didn’t realize that he just reached the point of no return. There was no way to contact Ray anymore. No going back to being Kid Danger.

“Funny,” Drex started. “This is the exact same one I had.” Drex then threw the watch on the ground and smashed it to bits with his foot. Henry winced and stared at the now demolished device.

“Now let’s see who you really are,” Drex said, extending his hand to Henry’s mask. Without even thinking, Henry grabbed Drex’s wrist in the blink of an eye, stopping him from removing his mask. Drex furrowed his eyebrows causing Henry to release his grip out of fear.

“Ah, sorry. I-I don’t really know why I did that,” Henry said. “I can’t really control this yet.” Henry gestured at his hand and Drex shook his head.

“That’s fine,” Drex said. “Until you get a handle on it, it’ll activate whenever you feel threatened.” Henry blinked and gave a look of complete confusion.

“How do you know more about my power than I do?” Henry asked.

“They did the same thing to me, except mine was for strength and resilience,” Drex said. “They probably waited to do yours because they thought it’d make you go ‘crazy’ like I did.”

“Did it make you, um,” Henry tried to think of a word that wouldn’t get him killed, “like this?” Drex laughed.

“Of course not,” Drex said. “Ray did. I was fed up with his bullshit.”

“I really didn’t think he was _that_ bad.”

“Trust me it would’ve gotten worse.” Henry felt that nagging feeling of panic when he thought about what Ray would do when he found out that he joined Drex.

“Oh god, Ray’s gonna kill me!” Henry said. He hugged himself tightly, this being the only thing keeping him from a full out panic attack.

“Not much of a hero now is he?” Drex said crossing his arms. Henry took a moment to think about what he was doing. He was panicking over the thought of the person he thought was his friend being mad at him for something he couldn’t exactly control. His panic turned to rage as he continued to think about how controlling Ray was. The only way he could relieve his anger was being able to take Ray down.

“You seem a little mad, Kid Danger,” Drex said mockingly. “What are you going to do about it?” Even Lance stopped what he was doing to watch this play out. Henry wanted so badly to release all this bottled up anger that he didn’t care about getting killed in the process. He stood up quickly and punched Drex about twenty times in the stomach in the span of only two seconds. Henry didn’t even know he was capable of such a feat.

Drex fell to the ground, winded from the attack. Normally, he would be enraged by such an act, but this was what he was hoping for. He wanted to test Henry’s breaking point and see what he was capable of when someone pushed him over the edge. Drex laughed, receiving a suspect look from Henry.

“Well done,” Drex said standing up. “As a villain, you need to know how to channel that rage for your enemies and use it to your advantage.” Henry nodded solemnly and gave into the feeling of relief that came from Drex not punching him back. It took a while to realize this, but Drex was proud of him. For the first time in a while, Henry was happy with himself. This feeling was short lived, though, as exhaustion washed over him. It evidently showed because Drex was able to pick up on this.

“Still got that guest room?” Drex asked.

“With a brand new bed recently stolen from IKEA,” Lance said. Drex shot a smile at him then looked back at Henry.

“Hit the hay, kid. You’ve had a long day and you’ve got an even longer one tomorrow.” Drex said.

“Give me a sec,” Henry said, grabbing his tube of gum out of Lance’s hand, receiving a disapproving look from him. He blew a bubble, finally revealing his identity to the two criminals.

“And who might this be?” Drex asked.

“Henry Hart,” Henry said. “Sidekick of the most dangerous criminal in Swellview.” Drex smirked.

“God, I love that title.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my friends in a discord chat I'm in for motivating me and suggesting ideas <3

Ray sat on the couch with his head in his hands as Charlotte handed five dollars to Jasper. Training them was too much for Ray to handle because of Charlotte’s sass and Jasper’s more-than-lacking skills. Ray figured at this point there was nothing he could do to prepare them for such an intense fight.

“I had hope there for a while,” Ray said, bringing his hands away from his face.

“Not everyone is made for fighting,” Charlotte said. Ray sighed. She was right, but Ray had a hard time accepting it. He also started to realize that they didn’t _want_ to fight with him. They would be forced to risk their lives fighting against their own friend.

“I’m just going to have to fight them alone,” Ray said.

“You can’t do that,” Charlotte said. “If you would have gone without Henry to fight Drex, you would have been captured. You need someone to go with you.”

“I don’t really have any other option,” Ray said. Charlotte shrugged and Jasper bit his lip uncomfortably. Schwoz then ran into the room with a flask of a strange liquid.

“I’ve done it!” Schwoz said excitedly.

“Oh good lord what is that?” Charlotte said rolling her eyes.

“When you drink this, it will line everything in your body with a layer of aluminum. It makes it to where nothing can be pierced or broken,” Schwoz explained.

“That’s great! Now Charlotte and Jasper can fight without getting hurt!” Ray said. Ray’s excitement faded when Schwoz’s happiness didn’t match his.

“Well, it can only be in effect for less than 24 hours or the aluminum will start to break apart into shards and possibly cause internal bleeding,” Schwoz explained. “They would have to drink an acid that would dissolve the aluminum without hurting them in the process. Unfortunately, such an acid does not exist. I have designed one, though, that won’t have long-term effects, but will still be really painful.” By the time Schwoz finished, everyone else was cringing. Nobody seemed to approve of this idea.

“That seems like a really bad idea,” Charlotte said. “But it seems like the only one we have.”

“You guys would be willing to do that?” Ray said.

“If it means getting my friend back, I’m all for it,” Jasper said bravely.

“I second that,” Charlotte said. Ray looked so proud he could cry.

“Let’s get you guys a supersuit,” Ray said.

“Please never say the word supersuit again,” Charlotte said receiving a giggle from Jasper and an eyeroll from Ray.

“Whatever, just follow me.”

__

Henry didn’t sleep too well last night, so naturally he was a bit agitated. The bed he was sleeping in collapsed in the middle of the night, almost giving him a heart attack. He wasn’t able to sleep fully after that.

_The guy can build a fully functioning time machine, but he can’t put together a goddamn bed from IKEA,_ Henry had thought.

He got up from the bed that was in shambles and walked into the living room. Henry was honestly impressed with how nice this place was. He had always assumed that villains lived in dumps.

“You’re up early,” Henry heard a voice come from behind him. Soon, Lance passed him with a bag of items that clanked loudly against each other. Henry figured that they were knives and that this was how he died.

“Take a seat,” Lance said, pulling a rolling chair into the area. Henry accepted his fate and sat in the chair. Lance then wrapped a cape around him, causing Henry to realize what was actually going on, and it wasn’t much better than what he previously thought.

“Drex gave me a few ideas on what he wanted and I know exactly what I’m gonna do,” Lance said, smirking. “You’ll love it.” Lance shuffled through his bag for a spray bottle as Henry bit the inside of his cheek.

“Do I _really_ need a new haircut?” Henry groaned.

“Of course, the one you have now makes you look too nice,” Lance said. Henry sighed in defeat and Lance began to wet his hair.

“In case you’re curious, Drex went out to get food,” Lance said. So many things came to mind about what “getting food” meant for Drex. Just about everything came up except for Drex paying for it and telling the cashier to have a nice day. He soon realized that this should be the last thing he should be questioning. How the hell do these two know each other?

“How do you know Drex?” Henry asked. Lance giggled ominously making Henry slightly uncomfortable.

“We met at a villain party about eight years back. He was still with Captain Man back then,” Lance explained. “He walked up to me, clearly drunk, and we really hit it off. He’s a really flirty drunk, you know that?”

“No and I could’ve gone without knowing,” Henry said. Lance giggled again and Henry’s imagination went wild. Drex was a lot of things, but he never thought flirty could be one of them.

“I know Drex seems like a scary guy, but he can be pretty nice if you figure out how to get on his good side,” Lance said. Henry figured that he was already on Drex’s good side by now, but how did Lance get there?

“And how did you do that?” Henry asked.

“I’ll tell you when you’re older.” Before Henry had a chance to react to his statement, Lance shaved the whole right side of his head with one quick motion. All that was left was sad wet fuzz.

“What the hell?!” Henry protested.

“Be still or it’ll be uneven,” Lance warned, shaving the off the left side immediately after. The only thing that remained was a fresh mohawk that flowed down into his bangs.

“The worst part is over,” Lance said, grabbing a small pair of scissors. Henry closed his eyes and tried to imagine what he looked like. There was a thin line between a badass haircut and an idiotic one and he was afraid of being on the latter side of that line. Lance quickly touched up some parts of his hair and soon finished.

“I-Is it bad?” Henry asked. Lance picked up a hand-held mirror and tossed it to Henry.

“You tell me.” Henry’s heart was racing as he slowly lifted the mirror. When he saw what was in the mirror, he hardly recognized it. He wasn’t sure what he thought about it at first, but the longer he stared, the more it grew on him. He smiled dumbly at himself until the newness wore off and he was left with just a haircut.

“What do you think about a red streak?” Lance asked.

“Baby steps.”


	5. Chapter 5

“Most likely to have a secret crush on Captain Man?” Henry said. Lance had suggested that they all play a game where someone asks a question and it has to be answered with a villain in Swellview.

“Easy,” Drex said, scribbling a name on his whiteboard. Both Lance and Drex had that look on their faces that made Henry believe they were up to something. Henry may have only been with them for a week, but he was already picking up on their behavior. Lance and Drex turned out to be closer friends than Henry originally thought. He’d occasionally find the two flirting, but he’d pretend he didn’t notice. It also didn’t take long to figure out where Drex had been sleeping.

“Alright, turn them around,” Henry said, flipping his board. Lance and Drex followed with smirks plastered on their faces, revealing they had written each other’s names down. They began to tease each other in mock anger, not able to conceal their laughter through it. They almost reminded Henry of him and Jasper.

“Well who’s the one that worked for him for two years?” Lance argued, Drex laughing in return. Henry couldn’t help but feel a little left out, but it was covered up by how uncomfortable he was. After a long while, Lance decided to take a look at Henry’s board and snickered.

“Dr. Minyak?” Lance started. “Hon, that’s not a secret crush.” Henry raised his eyebrows, but decided not to question it.

“Let’s talk Ray for a bit,” Drex started. “What’d he do to you?” Drex gestured towards Henry, who felt a rush of anger when he started to think about what to say.

“He took credit for every single crime we stopped,” Henry said angrily. “Like the time we found you, Lance! You remember _me_ throwing that nine at you right?” Lance crossed his arms and furrowed his eyebrows.

“I was hit so hard I can’t remember,” He growled. Henry’s never actually seen Lance angry and it was sort of frightening.

“Right,” Henry said awkwardly. “Well I did and he acted like he took him down all by himself just to flirt with the news reporter.”

“Sounds like a very Ray thing to do,” Drex said leaning back on the couch. Drex’s closer presence almost seemed to soothe Lance a bit. “I’m surprised you didn’t leave him sooner.”

“I never really had a chance. I knew Ray would never just let me leave,” Henry paused, his mind wandering. “How did you get out of there?”

“I had thought about just quitting for a while, but I found out about a villain party and decided to go to that. It was in this very building that I took on the role of Drex.”

“And I was the host of that killer party,” Lance added. “This was the party I was telling you about where Drex and I met.”

“Wish I could remember it,” Drex said and shook his head. “I had _way_ too much to drink that night.”

“You had one hell of a hangover in the morning too.” Lance said.

“Wait, you stayed over?” Henry said, wide-eyed. He was starting to put pieces together and he wasn’t liking the full picture.

“Yeah, apparently we hooked up.” There it was. Lance hit Drex’s arm.

“Hey, the kid’s like 12!” Lance said. He wanted to be mad, but he was laughing uncontrollably. Lance may not have acted like it sometimes, but he was still one of the worst criminals in Swellview and found things such as Henry’s flustered expression entertaining.

“First of all, I’m 16,” Henry started. “And second of all, what the fuck?”

“I can’t even remember it so Lance _could_ be lying,” Drex joked. Lance, still overwhelmed with laughter, slapped Drex’s arm again.

“I think I’m gonna go take a walk to rid my mind of that image,” Henry said, standing up.

“Hold on, we need to discuss something,” Drex said. Henry felt anxiety well up in him, but pushed it away. He sat back down and awaited whatever horrible thing was going to come out of Drex’s mouth.

“We need to plan our first attack,” Drex said. Henry exhaled in relief. “I just want to scare Ray a bit, show him that we are after him. Since you know the location of the Man Cave, I was thinking you could ransack the place.” Henry took in all the information Drex threw at him and tried to develop an actual plan.

“I may not be able to get into the Man Cave. I’m sure they’re anticipating an attack by now and probably have the place locked up,” Henry said.

“I’m not just going to accept failure Henry,” Drex said. His statement sent shivers down Henry’s spine. He may have been closer to Drex now, but Drex still terrified him. Drex had a way of envoking fear in just about anyone without even trying.

“I-I just don’t know if I’ll be able to get down there,” Henry said.

“Well you better get _something_ of value back,” Drex said. Henry nodded. “We’ll attack tomorrow.”

“Get my time machine,” Lance beamed at Henry, yanking him from his trance of fear.

“If I get anything, it’s definitely not going to be that giant-ass machine,” Henry said. Lance pouted and slumped back down onto the couch.

“Still going on that walk?” Drex asked. Henry shook his head and was hit with the story from their previous conversation.

“It’s gonna take more than a walk to get rid of that memory,” Henry said, starting toward the training room. It took him a moment to realize this, but Drex had shown trust to Henry. Even if it was in the form of an awkward story about hooking up with someone, earning Drex’s trust was extremely satisfying. Once again, he felt happy with himself. This wasn’t something he felt often when he was Kid Danger.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does this whole Drex and Lance thing feel awkward? Very much yes. Do I regret it? Hell no.


	6. Chapter 6

The Man Cave was basically impossible to get into at this point. Ray had ordered Schwoz to increase the security in worry of Henry finding his way down there. They changed the buttons to lower the tubes and even put up a locked gate around the tubes above ground. If you weren’t Captain Man or part of his crew, the only way to get into the Man Cave was through the elevator in Junk-n-Stuff. Even then, Schwoz added a switch to the back of the counter that kills the power to the elevator. They had thought about just closing down Junk-n-Stuff until further notice, but they needed to keep a nice cash flow because of Captain Man’s less-than-great reputation at the moment.

Ray still wasn’t satisfied with the extra security, so he gave Jasper a stun gun to keep behind the counter as well. He made it very clear to Jasper to shoot Henry or Drex _as soon_ as they came in. Though the gun would only knock Henry out, he wasn’t sure if he could point a gun at his own friend.

Jasper sat behind the counter, praying that Henry wouldn’t walk through the door. He was so on edge that every time the bell at the door chimed, his heart would skip a beat. The times where no one was in the store were the hardest. He held the gun close to him, trying to comfort himself. He’d give anything to have Henry next to him telling him that everything would be okay.

Then, Henry strolled through the door, surprisingly calm. Jasper stiffened as he approached the counter. Although he was calm, Jasper saw something in him that seemed off.

“Please, don’t come any closer,” Jasper pleaded. Henry stopped and stood still, still a good ways away from the counter.

“Scared of an old friend?” Henry said, Jasper swallowed and readied the gun. He just couldn’t bring himself to raise it yet.

“Why are you here?” Jasper asked.

“Am I not allowed to stop by and say hi?” Henry asked innocently. Something about this statement was incredibly unsettling to Jasper.

“You’re a criminal now, we can’t trust you,” Jasper said.

“You know me better than anyone, Jasper,” Henry started. “Do you really think I’d hurt any of you?” Jasper thought for a moment.

“What happened to your hair?” Jasper questioned. Jasper happened to know how much Henry loved his hair, so to have both sides of it shaved meant that something huge must have changed. Henry stared at Jasper dumbly and made the decision to make a run for the elevator. Just as he was about to sprint, though, Jasper raised the gun and shot at Henry. In a very swift and quick motion, Henry turned his shoulders causing the shot to miss him just barely. Henry looked to Jasper with fury, making him feel incredibly small.

“I can’t believe you’d be willing to shoot your own friend to protect Ray,” Henry said. Jasper trembled, but kept the gun pointed at Henry.

“You’re not the Henry I grew up with,” Jasper said shakily. Henry chuckled cynically and started to walk towards forward. Jasper sent a few more shots his way, all of which missed and hit several shelves behind him.

“I suppose you’re right,” Henry said, nearing the counter. Jasper might as well have been shooting in the dark. Once Henry made it to Jasper, he lifted him by the collar of his shirt, the pure shock causing him to drop the gun.

“I’m so much better,” Henry sneered before sending a hard punch to Jasper’s face, making him fall to the ground. Henry then started towards the back, but Jasper grabbed a hold of Henry’s ankle in a desperate attempt to stop him. Henry, annoyed, shook free and and stomped down on Jasper’s wrist. Through Jasper’s wail of pain, you could hear a slight snap.

With the last of his energy, Jasper reached up and flipped the switch that shut down the elevator as well as the store emergency switch. Once Henry reached the elevator, the button sent a short shock through his body. Jasper winced when Henry slammed his fist against the door. He then heard him growl and suddenly Henry was stepping over him.

“Drex isn’t going to be happy about this,” Henry murmured, searching the cash register. Jasper was done trying to stop him at this point. He wasn’t sure how much more pain he could take.

After stuffing all the cash in his pocket, Henry grabbed the gun off the ground and ran out the door. Jasper pulled his knees up to his chest and began to cry quietly. The combination of the blood trickling from his nose and his hand that wouldn’t seem to work made him believe that his friend absolutely hated him. Jasper simply waited for Henry to walk back through the door and pour himself out to Jasper about how sorry he was and beg him to forgive him, and Jasper would. But he was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

As soon as Ray lead Jasper back into the Man Cave, he curled up underneath the table on the circular couch. He had no desire to be around anyone after what happened. He just wanted to go home.

Schwoz and Charlotte then scrambled into the room and informed that Jasper was badly injured. Schwoz ran to get his medical scanner and Charlotte worked on coaxing Jasper out from under the table. It pained her to see him so distraught.

“Hey Jasper,” Charlotte cooed. “What’s wrong bud?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jasper said, wiping his tears away.

“Are you sure?” Charlotte asked. “I’m sure it’d help.” Jasper glanced at Charlotte then looked back at his feet.

“Do I have to get up?” Jasper asked.

“Yes, we’re going to have to see how badly you were hurt,” Charlotte said. Jasper sighed and crawled out from under the table. Schwoz then wheeled his device into the room.

“Henry hates me,” Jasper said, sitting back down on the couch. “He probably hates all of us.” Charlotte looked over to Ray who was standing casually across the room. Once she was able to get him to look at her, she gave him a look to indicate that she wanted Ray to talk to him. She knew how much Jasper looked up to Ray, so she figured that he’s listen to him more than he did her.

“Hey, he doesn’t hate you,” Ray said. “Drex has just made him think that he needs to. The only person he hates right now is me.” Ray looked down at his feet and scuffed them at the floor. Jasper looked sadly at Ray and sighed.

“We’ll talk more about this later,” Charlotte said. “Can you tell us what happened Jasper?” Jasper explained the whole story and everyone was astonished that Henry would do such a thing. No wonder Jasper thought he hated him.

“So he hurt your nose and wrist correct?” Schwoz asked. Jasper nodded and Schwoz rose his scanner to Jasper’s face, sending a tickling sensation through his nose.

“Looks like your nose is fine,” Schwoz said, grabbing Jasper’s wrist gently to scan it. When Schwoz ran his scanner over his wrist, Jasper winced and yanked his hand away. The scanner never hurt him like that before.

“That probably means something’s broken,” Schwoz said. “Now give it back.” Schwoz put his hand out and Jasper lied his wrist on his palm. Soon, Charlotte came over and put a hand on Jasper’s shoulder. Jasper bit his lip as Schwoz scanned his wrist once again.

“It’s fractured,” Schwoz said and sighed. As Schwoz put his machine away, Jasper rubbed his wrist. “I’ll get a cast.” Jasper looked at his wrist and his eyes welled with tears again.

“I can’t believe he would do this,” Jasper cried, letting out a sob. Charlotte pulled Jasper into a hug to try to console him.

“I’m sure we’ll get him back,” Charlotte said. At this point, she didn’t care about giving him a false sense of security. Jasper would never be able to fight like this.

“What if he stays evil though?” Jasper said. “He’ll get thrown in jail and we‘ll never see him again.” Jasper let out a few more sobs and clung to Charlotte.

“We still have time to change him,” Charlotte barely had time to finish her statement when the phone for the Captain Man Hotline rang. Ray quickly jumped up and ran to answer it. Charlotte pulled away from Jasper and they both watched in anticipation.

“This is Captain Man,” Ray said with his cheesy superhero voice. His heroic expression shifted, though, when the other person started talking.

“Henry?” Ray said. Charlotte and Jasper’s blood ran cold thinking about why he would be calling. All sorts of deadly scenarios came to mind and made the two sick.

“Hey, it’ll be okay. I’ll be there soon. Hang in there, kid.” Ray said, already pulling the tube of gum from his pocket. He hung up and blew a bubble directly after.

“Ray slow it down,” Charlotte said. “Don’t we need to go with you?”

“Henry was crying about wanting to come home, so I think I’ll be okay,” Ray said.

“He could be lying,” Charlotte suggested. Ray sighed.

“I guess you’re right,” Ray said. “You guys better hurry though.” Charlotte nodded and ran to Schwoz’s lab to get the elixir.

“But my hand is broken,” Jasper said Ray pinched the bridge of his nose.

“We don’t have time to take care of that. Just shoot with your other hand,” Ray said. Jasper nodded and started to grab weapons.

Ray wanted to believe that Henry missed him, but he knew better to know that this was all an elaborate plan to capture him. He was starting to give up hope by now. He was trying to change himself, but if Henry wouldn’t trust him, he wouldn’t be able to show that to him. All he could was wait.

___

“So he bought it?” Drex asked as Henry put his phone in his pocket.

“Hell yeah he did,” Henry said. Drex smiled slyly and Lance walked over with various gadgets. He handed them to Drex one by one, explaining its function.

“One last thing,” Lance reached into his pocket and handed Drex a fairly small pocket watch.

“And what am I supposed to do with this?” Drex asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Tell time, dummy,” Lance said. Drex opened the watch to find a tiny note revealing that the watch was actually a bomb that would go off if you pressed the numbers in the right order.

“You really get me,” Drex said. Henry could have sworn that he saw Lance blush, but it wouldn’t surprise him if he was just wearing makeup.

“If you boys need me, I’ll be here building a new time machine,” Lance said, but didn’t leave. They waited for him to walk away, but he looked like he wanted to say something. Very swiftly, Lance kissed Drex’s cheek and walked away.

“I’ll wait up on you!” Lance said. Henry snickered and Drex shot him an intimidating expression. Henry wiped the smile off his face, completely believing that Drex would kill him if he didn’t.

“Let’s just go,” Drex said. Henry nodded and followed Drex outside. As Henry was walking to the back of the building, he saw a sign that made his blood run cold. He stopped directly when he saw it and stared as if it would explain itself. It had ‘MISSING’ across the top and a picture of him below it.

“You coming?” Drex said from their van. Henry jumped and ran to him. He had no idea what to do about the sign, but he didn’t have any time to think about it. He just decided to worry about taking Ray down for the time being.


	8. Chapter 8

Captain Man and his new sidekicks entered the abandoned warehouse with caution. The only information Henry provided them with was that he was in an empty building near Schneider’s Bakery, so Ray hoped he had the right place. From what he could see, the place held only crates and dust, but he kept his guard up. He could feel the presence of other people there.

As Ray walked around slowly, Jasper and Charlotte followed him closely. Although they wouldn’t admit it, they were terrified. They have seen what Drex is capable of and Ray’s order to stay away from Drex only intensified their fear. All they could do is hope that Drex didn’t come after them. 

Drex and Henry watched the crew intently behind some crates on the opposite side of the facility. They discussed their plan and readied themselves for an attack. They had originally planned for the both of them to apprehend Ray to maximize their force, but now Charlotte and Jasper were added to the equation. They couldn’t be hard to take down, Henry thought. Drex then decided that Henry would take on the sidekicks while he fought Ray to tire him. Once Henry agreed, they stood and rushed at them.

As soon as Ray realized that Henry and Drex were approaching, he prepared himself to fight, his sidekicks following. Drex immediately started throwing punches at Ray without hesitation, the hero able to block most of them at first. Henry, though, went for Jasper first. He noticed that he had a ton of weapons attached to him, so he thought it would be wise to take him down first. Jasper panicked and quickly reached for a blaster that was in his utility belt, but Henry proved quicker. Henry sent a hard kick to his chest, knocking his old friend to the ground. 

“Stay down,” Henry said sternly. Jasper was barely able to recognize Henry’s raspy and anger-ridden voice. Jasper, terrified, did what he was told and remained lying on the ground. Charlotte then jumped onto Henry’s back, hoping to knock him to the ground. Henry wasn’t going down that easily though. Henry repeatedly tried to throw her off, but she had a death grip around his throat. Anger and frustration began to build in him, so he took Drex’s advice and let it drive him. With this, he pried Charlotte’s arms away from his neck and slung her onto her back in front of him. She cried out in pain and Henry began to feel weak. Guilt began to take over and stunned him. He found himself unable to move as he stared at his friend on the ground in pain. The world began to spin around him as he trembled at what he had done. 

The guilt-filled trance quickly came to an end when Henry was met with a sharp, intense pain in his shoulder. He staggered backwards, grasping his hurt shoulder and soon fell to the ground. His wail of pain caught the attention of even the two adults fighting several feet away. They halted and stared at the fallen sidekick. Their attention was soon redirected to Jasper, though, when they saw him holding a gun, still pointed at Henry. He had an intense expression of regret plastered on his pale face.

“Goddammit Henry,” Drex growled then ran over to the injured boy. He sat him up slightly and was able to see the immense amount of blood pouring from his wound. He pulled Henry’s hand away from his shoulder to inspect the injury and was met with a bloody mess. It looked like a giant chunk was taken out of his shoulder. Drex swore and quickly took the bandana off his head and tied it tightly around the injured shoulder to stop most of the bleeding. It didn’t cover the whole wound, but it had to do for the time being.

The trio standing by stared in awe at the scene. Drex’s care for Henry genuinely shocked them. Ray glanced at Charlotte and Jasper who were frozen in shock, much like himself. He mostly wanted to make sure the two were still alive.

“Which one of you did this?!” Drex’s booming voice echoed through the empty warehouse, sending shivers down everyone’s spines. Drex then turned to Jasper, who still held the gun. He dropped it and Drex stood.

“Get out of here!” Ray yelled, walking in front of Jasper.

“But-”

“Go!” Ray cut Charlotte off, knowing well enough that Drex would tear them apart if they didn’t. Ray started to run with them when he knew that they were far enough away. Drex knew that he wouldn’t be able to catch all of them now, so he pulled a gadget out of his pocket that, if he was lucky, would allow him to catch Ray. He slid the circular device across the smooth metal floor towards Ray’s feet. The device hit Ray’s heel, causing it to wrap around Ray’s foot and attach itself to the ground in the blink of an eye. Ray hit the ground _hard_ , catching the attention of his retreating sidekicks.

“Keep going!” He ordered. The two hesitated, but they continued to run. Drex then kneeled next to Ray and snickered.

“Looks like I caught myself a superhero,” Drex teased, pulling Ray’s hands behind his back. Ray used all of his strength to try to break free of Drex’s grip, but Drex was too strong. Drex brought out some rope Lance had supplied him with and tied Ray’s hands together with it. He tried his best to make the position as uncomfortable as possible.

“You’ll never get away with this Drex!” Ray said.

“Hm, and how many villains have you said that to?” Drex asked. Ray stayed silent and Drex tied his legs together. He reclaimed the device and walked back to Henry.

“Let’s get to the van and get home,” Drex said. Henry stood up slowly, his hand tightly grasped around his shoulder. The blood from his wound was starting to seep through Drex’s bandana and onto Henry’s hand. The pain was agonizing, so it took a lot of energy to follow Drex outside. He was so distracted, he barely noticed Drex throw his old boss into the van.

“You oughta lie down in the back,” Drex said. “I know the last person you want to be around is Ray, but I can’t have a bleeding person in the front seat.” Henry nodded, not wanting to argue with Drex. He simply crawled into the back of the van and sat down as far away from Ray as he could in such a small space.

As Drex started up the vehicle, Henry tilted his head back, trying to relax. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his mind off the pain in his shoulder. The warm blood that poured from his wound kept his mind from wandering. All he wanted right now was someone to cling onto and tell him that he was okay, but he didn’t get that anymore. The closest thing he got was a piece of cloth tightly wrapped around a hole in his arm.

“Are you okay?” Henry heard the all-too-familiar voice through the ringing in his ears. He had completely forgotten that Ray was there with him.

“Don’t act like you care,” Henry growled. The amount of energy it took to speak surprised him.

“Henry a chunk was melted out of you arm and you’re bleeding everywhere, so naturally I’m a bit concerned.”

“Shut up.” Henry groaned and shuffled in his spot. Ray sighed and sat up as much as he could with his restraints. He was hoping to get Henry to look at him, but the boy refused.

“I know you hate me right now, Henry,” Ray started, “but I need you to listen to me. You don’t have to say anything, just _listen_.” Ray paused, expecting Henry to protest. When Henry remained silent, Ray continued. “Your family misses you. I know you left because of me, but your family is paying the price. Your sister is refusing to go to school and I can’t tell you how many times your mom has called the hotline, begging for me to help. I know you care about your family, Henry, so please, stop this.” Ray stared at Henry, whose gaze was fixed to the ceiling. The street lights that occasionally illuminated the dark back of the van revealed the tears in Henry’s eyes.

“Fuck off.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! I'm sorry this took so long to upload, I've just been busy and sort of unmotivated. I'll try to get more chapters up asap! Thanks for understanding!


	9. Chapter 9

Henry was on the verge of unconsciousness. He had lost enough blood to make him feel faint. He groaned, trying desperately to stay conscious. He started ignoring Ray a while ago, but he kept telling him to stay awake. The van may have stopped, but Henry’s world kept moving.

Drex hurried to the back and tried to get Henry to stand, but he simply couldn’t. Drex was starting to get just as worried as Henry at this point. He may not have wanted to admit it, but he was getting rather attached to Henry. He told Henry he would come back for him, then drug the captured superhero inside.

Drex was quickly greeted by Lance when he walked through the door. His attention was immediately drawn to Ray and not Drex’s worried expression. Lance beamed and looked up at Drex. His expression shifted once he noticed something was off.

“What happened? Where’s your bandana?” Lance asked.

“Henry was shot,” Drex started. “Call Minyak and tell him to bring his medical stuff.”

“Y-You know I’m not good arou-”

“Just do it goddammit!” Drex snapped, not even looking at Lance. Lance was extremely taken aback by this, but only furrowed his eyebrows and ran to get his phone. Drex sighed and threw Ray into an extra room, hoping he wouldn’t escape in the time it took to get Henry. Luckily, he didn’t and Drex lied the injured Henry down on the couch.

“Hey, we’re gonna get Minyak over here,” Drex explained. “He used to be a surgeon, so he should be able to fix you up.” If Drex wasn’t hyper-aware of Henry’s consciousness, he wouldn’t have seen Henry’s weak nod. Lance then walked into the room, visually annoyed, and shoved his cell phone at Drex.

“You talk to him,” Lance ordered. “He won’t listen to me!” Drex growled and put the phone up to his ear.

“I swear to god if you’re not here in the next five minutes, I’ll snap your spine in half,” Drex said grimly. Soon after, he hung up the phone.

“Lance, set a timer for five minutes,” Drex said. Lance, swoon by the scene, rolled up his sleeve and set a timer on his digital watch. Drex didn’t even know he used digital watches.

Less than four minutes later, Dr. Minyak showed up. He rushed in, not knowing if he made it in time. Lance looked at his watch and snickered.

“Impressive,” Lance said and concealed his watch. Drex put a hand on Minyak’s shoulder, causing him to wince. It seemed like not a single person didn’t fear Drex. Well, except for maybe Lance.

“Cohort is bringing in the medical stuff,” Minyak breathed.

“That’s my cue to leave,” Lance said, turning to leave.

“Hey, please stay,” Drex said, removing his hand from Minyak’s shoulder. Lance stopped and faced Drex. He sighed and put his arms around the back of Drex’s neck.

“I was trying to tell you earlier that you know I’m not good around medical stuff,” Lance said. Drex gazed into Lance’s piercing white eyes, able to read his fear in them. Drex closed his eyes and nodded. Lance smiled and planted a kiss right next to Drex’s nose. He took his arms away from his shoulders and he was gone. As Lance walked to the back, Drex looked back to Dr. Minyak, who had obviously been staring.

“I-I didn’t know you two-”

“Yeah you did,” Drex said. “I know he told you, you just didn’t believe him.” Minyak swallowed and started sweating. “Now take a look at him.” Drex gestured at Henry, who was still bleeding and starting to get blood on the couch. Minyak was immediately able to identify the wound and slowly grazed his hand over it. Henry then jerked back, the gentle act causing him a great deal on pain. Nurse Cohort then pulled in a wagon with several medical supplies in it. 

“I’d like a little help next time!” She yelled.

“Whatever, just get over here,” Minyak responded. She growled and pulled the wagon over to him. She then began to empty out a bag full of various utensils.

“Go ahead and hand me some scissors and a rag,” Minyak ordered, Cohort handing him the tools. He then cut off the bandana and quickly shoved the rag into his open wound. Henry cried out in pain and squirmed in his spot.

“Jesus, ow,” Henry breathed, taking deep breaths. Minyak ignored him and cut off the sleeve of his hoodie to see the wound better.

“I’m going to assume an artery was damaged because of all the blood,” Minyak said, mostly to himself. “Do you know your blood type?”

“A-A positive,” Henry said. Minyak looked at the two next to him and both of them shook their heads. 

“We need blood if you want me to help,” Minyak said. Drex took a deep breath.

“I’ll ask Lance,” Drex said. He didn’t want Lance to have to get involved with this, but now, Henry’s life depended on it. Drex found him in the storage room, working on his time machine. He thought he was so cute sitting on his knees, his yellow trench coat surrounding him. Drex extended his hand and helped him up. He wrapped one hand around his waist and put the other on his cheek. Lance put his own hand on Drex’s on his cheek. Drex usually wasn’t like this, but Lance admired it when he was. 

“What’s your blood type?” Drex asked gently. Lance furrowed his eyebrows.

“A positive,” Lance answered, “why?” Drex exhaled and gave him a serious look.

“Henry needs blood,” Drex said. Lance shook his head.

“There’s no way in hell,” Lance said, trying to escape the once tender embrace. Now it was a trap that he had no way of getting out of. He hated that Drex was able to do this to him.

“I don’t want to have to fight with you,” Drex said.

“Then don’t. I’m not letting anyone put any more needles in me,” Lance said, his eyes welling with tears.

“Hey, I’ll be there with you okay?” Drex said. He rubbed his cheek softly and Lance bit his lip.

“You’ll owe me,” Lance said. Drex lit up a bit and stepped back from Lance, still gripping his hand. He led him back into the living room, where Minyak had already started stitching up Henry’s wound. This alone was able to make Lance sick to his stomach.

“He’s A positive,” Drex said. Cohort then took a couple utensils off the table and approached Lance. He sat down on a nearby chair and Cohort kneeled next to him. She grabbed one of his wrists and extended his arm, palm up. As she rolled up his sleeve, Lance’s other hand searched for Drex’s. He soon found it and held it close to him. Drex then took a seat on the arm of the chair, trying to comfort him with his presence. Nurse Cohort ignored the two and picked up a needle she had taken from the table and Lance’s eyes immediately fixated to it. She set up a tube to the needle that led to a fairly large beaker.

“Hey, just don’t look at it,” Drex said, redirecting Lance’s gaze to himself. Drex’s gentle expression soothed Lance slightly, but didn’t keep him from trembling. Nurse Cohort then began to search for a vein, causing Lance more anxiety in suspense of the needle. When she finally found one, Drex wrapped his other hand around Lance’s that was already death-gripping his other hand. Lance shut his eyes tightly, a small tear rolling down his cheek. Nurse Cohort looked up at Drex with the needle hovering over Lance’s arm.

“Alright,” Drex started, “Three, two, one.” After Drex’s brief countdown, Nurse Cohort inserted the needle into his arm. A jolt was sent through Lance’s body and he squeaked. A few more tears fell from his eyes, Drex gently wiping them away. Lance then began to peak over to his other arm. He didn’t know why, but he was drawn to it. Drex then pushed Lance’s cheek to make him face him again.

“That’ll make it worse,” Drex said. Lance nodded, tears continuing to stream down his face. It broke Drex’s heart to see him like this.

After a while, a pint of blood was taken from Lance and sent into Henry’s bloodstream. As Henry gained his energy back, Minyak and Cohort packed their things up. Drex, sitting on the couch, made sure they didn’t steal anything as he held Lance in his arms, the man still trembling.

“I’m sorry I made you do that,” Drex said. “I’m also sorry I yelled at you earlier.” Lance pulled his tear-streaked face away from the comfort of Drex’s shoulder and looked at him. Lance’s usually vibrant eyes seemed like a dull gray.

“You are?” Lance said, sounding genuinely surprised. Drex nodded, running his hand up and down Lance’s back. Drex knew he was supposed to be the cold-hearted criminal with no emotions or friends, but holding Lance in his arms made him someone different. He was someone who loved and someone who _cared_. He knew he would hate himself later for allowing himself to be this vulnerable, but he didn’t care. He just held onto the man that able to make him so weak.


End file.
